Park receives official name; council will consider naming rights

Alga Norte Park: Now officially named, the Alga Norte Community Park will contain a swimming complex, skate park, ball fields, dog park, playground, and basketball courts, the names of which may be sold by the city to private sponsors. Photo courtesy of the city of Carlsbad

CARLSBAD — City Council agreed that the new park facility being built off of Poinsettia Lane and Alicante Road will officially bear the name Alga Norte Community Park.

But council also decided to consider selling the names of the park’s individual facilities to sponsors at a future meeting.

The park, which is currently under construction, has been referred to as Alga Norte Community Park for decades throughout its planning process, but City Council had not formally named it.

At its May 21 meeting, City Council considered seeking out name suggestions from the community, a process that could take about 3 months according to Carlsbad Director of Parks and Recreation Chris Hazeltine.

Hazeltine pointed out that because the park is anticipated to open later this year, city staff would not have much time to establish a new name.

Mayor Pro Tem Mark Packard was the only councilmember who expressed interest in considering a new name.

“Our history is that the community gets to choose the name as opposed to a staff member,” he said. He expressed that a few community members had approached him about the park’s name. He further mentioned, “Apparently ‘alga’ is a variation of the Spanish word for algae.” Yet all other council members stated that they were content with the name.

“I’m happy with Alga Norte Community Park. I’ve always known it as such,” said Councilmember Farrah Douglas.

“Actually until this was brought up, I hadn’t even given it a thought,” said Councilmember Keith Blackburn.

Ultimately, council majority instated Alga Norte Community Park as the official name.

But the opportunity remains for naming the individual facilities of the park and will be considered at a council meeting in July.

The city can entertain selling name rights of these facilities to private sponsors, according to Communication Manager Kristina Ray.

This would be similar to how Carlsbad named its newest library facility, the Dove Library, which in turn contains the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium and William D. Cannon Art Gallery, both named after sponsors.